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Retail

July 09, 2014

Since Friday is my birthday I’m sharing my annual list of things I’ve either learned, or been reminded of, over the past year. Here’s my top ten.

1. There are remarkable similarities between delivering a great and productive customer experience, and living a good life. I see this especially in a tweak of something Stephen Covey said. While we judge ourselves on our intentions, others judge us on our behaviors and actions. Intentions will never lead to a sale or winning a customer. The same is true for developing healthy friendships and family relationships.

2. It is essential that you constantly challenge your own thinking and beliefs to find better ways to lead and run your business. The fear of being wrong holds many people back. Finding a new and improved way doesn’t mean your previous thinking or approach was wrong. It just means you’ve learned an even better way to reach your goals.

3. Every company should have a written recognition program. I’m not talking about an “employee of the month program,” but a physical way to recognize and thank employees. I’ve always called them Team Member Salutes. Instead of just saying “thank you” or “nice job” you write your praise on a card and give it to the employee at the same time you are verbally recognizing the person. This makes the recognition even more valuable.

4. Most employees who quit don’t do it because they’re seeking a better job. They may say that’s why they’re leaving, but most of them are seeking a better company or manager for which to work. A 2013 Gallup survey found that only 29% of US employees are actively engaged at work. That means only one out of every four employees is emotionally committed and likely to be making a positive contribution. It’s up to us to make sure every employee has the opportunity to be engaged and to make a difference.

5. Never underestimate how much the way you treat your staff impacts the customer experience. The good news for you is that so many companies don't understand that. I want a staff that feels spoiled because I want a customer who feels spoiled.

6. The mindset in most companies is that when you fall short of sales/revenue, you need more customers. The real opportunity is to improve sales/revenue per customer. That way, if you increase customers/traffic you’ll be even more successful. Almost every business can improve productivity. The leaders just need to stop focusing on so many different things, and start focusing on the right things.

7. Here’s a great exercise I often do with clients. Ask each of your employees to write down the three most important things they do in their position, and then compare the answers. The more aligned the answers are, the more your team (and your) are on top of your game.

8. Many retailers only want to hire people with retail experience. I don’t agree. I want to cast my net as wide as possible to find amazing people with amazing personalities and personal drive. You can teach retail. You can teach product. You can’t teach passion and enjoyment of working with people.

9. Action interviews are the best. While there are all different types of methods to interviewing applicants, my favorite is “Show Me.” I like to take the applicants onto the floor and have them show me how they greet, engage, and sell customers. I also like to have them learn something from the staff. Anyone can say they’re a people person, but the best applicants are happy to prove it.

10. I’m optimistic and excited about the future. The brick and mortar specialty store is not dead, nor is it dying. Well, maybe I should amend that. The specialty store with compelling products and a great staff that personally connects with customers and delivers a great experience still has a bright future. The others… not so much.

11. I know I said ten, but we should always try to go above and beyond whenever we can. Most of the time, we can. It’s also a great strategy for delivering the employee and customer experience.

Thank you for another year of your support and friendship. I appreciate each any every one of you. I look forward to continuing to work together to make your company and personal performance even better.

- Doug

Note: Want to dramatically and quickly improve your sales results? My SellMore Sales Solutions will easily, quickly and substantially increase your store’s average sale and/or conversion rate. The goal is to provide you with a minimum of ten times return on investment. Call me at 866-535-6331 to discuss.

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Doug Fleener, a proven retail and customer experience expert and consultant, helps companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their sales results. Visit the Dynamic Experiences Group website, or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create extraordinary results.

July 09, 2013

For years I put out
an annual birthday Weekly that listed
what I’ve learned over the years, matching the number of items with my age.
Last year I decided the list was getting too long. That’s one of the challenges
of getting older.

So instead, here are
fifteen things I’ve learned, or was reminded of, in the past year.

1. People who refuse
to use adverse circumstances as an excuse inspire me. From the store owner who
was determined to grow her business after Hurricane Sandy to the manager who is
battling cancer while still increasing her sales. Never underestimate
determined people.

2. In the last year
I have shopped in stores from Johannesburg to London to Sydney to Los Angeles to
Miami and any number of cities and small towns across America, and one thing is
true wherever I go. A great specialty
store experience is always about the connection between people. Although
technology is changing how people shop, a friendly, engaging, and a knowledgeable
staff is still a competitive advantage.

3. I firmly believe
in giving people a second chance. Most of them will turn out to be loyal and grateful
employees or friends. As for the others?
Well, it doesn’t matter much, because
you tried.

4. A beautiful, well-merchandised, specialty
store staffed with mediocre people misses the opportunity to be memorable.
That’s more about the leadership than the staff. Most employees rise to the
level of expectation, but slide to the level of acceptance.

5. One of the worst
things an executive, manager, or owner can do is to forget how challenging it
is to work retail. The minute you lose respect for your frontline staff is the
minute you lose your frontline team.

6. Always thank your
staff at the end of the day for their effort and contribution. You will either
make the employee you thank feel great, or you’ll be so annoyed about saying
“thank you” when you don’t mean it you’ll take action to improve or replace
that person.

7. Never
underestimate how much the way you treat your staff impacts the customer
experience. The good news is that so many companies don’t understand that. I want a staff that feels spoiled because I
want a customer who feels spoiled.

8. The worst
pictures are drawn with a wide brush. Every person and every situation is
different. When you take time to discover the detail, you greatly increase the
chance of a better outcome.

9. Don’t be upset
when employees leave for a better or different job. We’re lucky to have good
people for as long as we do. Of course we’d like to keep them forever, but for
some people retail is just a stepping-stone to the next thing. There’s nothing
wrong with that.

10. If there is one
thing I believe most specialty stores could do better, it’s clienteling and
managing their top customers. I don’t believe all customers should be treated
the same. All of them should be treated amazingly well, and a handful even
better than that.

11. If there is one
thing I believe most specialty store managers could do better, it’s being a
better coach. Chances are your staff has the knowledge and skill to do their
jobs better. They just need some coaching and insight about how to reach the
next level.

12. If there is one
thing I believe most specialty store owners could do better, it’s being more on
top of their inventory. While I’m the last guy in the world to help you with
that, Nancy Proman, who works with me, is amazing at it. She goes beyond spreadsheets
and teaches people how to proactively manage their inventory.

13. Here are three
traits I see from incredibly successful people. First, they don’t need to have all
the answers because they’re always asking great questions. Second, they’re
always seeking their employee’s opinions, especially the frontline staff.
Third, they’re not worried about being wrong or right. They just want results.

14. Don't take it
personally if someone doesn't like you or your store. Focus your efforts on those who do. Of course
if a lot people don’t like you or your store you might have an issue.

15. I'm truly
grateful for my friends, family, clients, readers, and followers. I appreciate
everyone who has played a part in my life this year. Thank you. Your support
and friendship has made this past year one of the best ever. I hope I’ve been
able to give back even just a fraction of what I've received.

16. Go above and
beyond whenever you can. Most of the time, we can.

Have a great
week!

Doug

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Doug
Fleener, a proven retail and customer experience expert and consultant, helps
companies dramatically improve their customer experience and their results.
Visit the Dynamic Experiences Group website,
or call Doug at 866-535-6331 to discuss how he can help you create an
extraordinary experience and results.

May 06, 2008

My hometown newspaper likes to pose a Question of the Week column, wherein six or seven citizens are accosted outside a local business and asked their opinion of current events. This past week the question was "What will you do with your economic stimulus check?" Responses ranged from "new tires for my truck" to "fill my [heating] oil tank" and "pay my mortgage". Nobody said "buy a new TV", "go on vacation", or even "pick up that new Mudcrutch CD". Practicality seems to be winning out over leisure. And though practicality still stimulates the economy, businesses that rely on discretionary spending might not feel as stimulated as they had hoped.

As the checks begin rolling in, retailers are jumping at the chance to take advantage of the windfall by encouraging their customers to come in to the store and turn their checks into merchandise. Walmart will cash checks for free. Sears will give a 10% bonus to customers who cash their check at the store and spend it all there. A regional supermarket chain is giving customers a 10% bonus on every $300 gift card bought with a stimulus check. This exchange of stimulus checks for the ubiquitous gift card reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend during the holidays.

When talk of sending checks out once again began to surface at the end of last year, my friend suggested that instead of doling out checks (and direct-deposit lump sums) which could be used for less stimulating purchases like heating oil, tires, and housing, the government should stimulate the economy with gift cards. Send each potential recipient a letter that either directs them to a website or includes a form for them to complete and mail back, indicating their choice of gift cards from dozens of businesses, in varying denominations up to the total amount of their refund. This would all but force much of the population to get out of the house and use their new-found cash to buy goods and services, as opposed to using it for less stimulating essentials like paying the mortgage, lightening their debt, or keeping the lights on for another month. Of course, the option to receive the cash in check form would be among the options, but what fun would that be? Who wants to face the responsibility of having to decide where the money should be spent, when there are so many options for where the money could be spent?

April 14, 2008

Dr Joseph Michelli, bestselling author of The Starbucks Experience, recently posted a brief podcast on his site in which he talks about our own Doug Fleener's 50 Ways to Improve the Customer Experience. An insightful and outspoken proponent of the customer experience in his own right, Dr. Michelli offers some flattering words for Doug and Dynamic Experiences Group, and shares 12 of Doug's 50 tips with his listeners. It's definitely worth four minutes of your time.

March 24, 2008

When I was a little kid my dad owned and operated several movie theaters. He'd been in that business for many years, and his office was full of relics from the golden age of Hollywood - though most of them were from the exhibitor's point-of-view. One of my favorites was a handbook of sorts for successfully running a concession stand. It was really nothing more than a collection of best practices from theater owners all over the country, collected, typed up onto fifty or so pages, and bound with three brass clasps along the left margin. I can remember rifling through the pages and learning all about how the way a snack bar was merchandised, presented, and staffed could have a positive effect on the amount of money people would spend.

One of the things that always stuck with me was the recommendation that popcorn be popped while customers were waiting for the movie to begin. This flew in the face of conventional wisdom that dictated you pop your corn when there were no customers around so you wouldn't be too busy to tend to customers. However, the smell of freshly popped popcorn and the visual of it bursting out of the popper would send customers into a buying frenzy, enticing even those who already had their Ju-Ju-Bees and Coke into buying a bucket. And do you know what? It worked.

Today, we know for a fact that we can influence buying by stimulating more senses simultaneously. Show somebody a product, and they might have an interest in it. Let them touch, hear, smell, and maybe even taste the same product, and the level of interest rises into a level of desire. This has worked especially well in the food industry with free samples, and it's a staple of the automotive industry where a test drive lets you feel all the aspects of the vehicle, smell the new-car smell, and hear the solid THUNK of the door as you close it.

So, here's an opportunity for you. Look around your store. What are you doing to stimulate more of your customers' senses? Is your background music conducive to your brand and products? What does your store smell like? Can customers touch the products? Is the lighting effective in showing off merchandise?

You probably won't be able to stimulate all the senses, and depending on what you're selling, you might not want to. But if you focus on stimulating more of the senses than you are now, you'll find customers' interest levels rising.

February 29, 2008

Mike Buckley over at Tacony Corporation's Mine Your Own Business blog picked up on my recent entry about the glut of businesses using generic email addresses. In the short time since my original post ran, I've received quite a few communications from retailers asking how to go about getting a unique domain and/or email address for their business. Mike actually offers quite a few good points, and I encourage anybody who's interested to check out his blog entry on the subject. Getting a unique email address is really not as difficult (or expensive) as it may seem. One reader even reminded me that local schools and continuing education efforts can be a great resource, as they often provide gratis set-up of domain, website, and email services for individuals and businesses as a real-world experience for their students. All you need to pay for is the domain registration fee.

On a sadly ironic note, in the days since I posted that entry I saw perhaps the most graphic example of this communication faux pas. As prominently displayed in its advertisement in a local newspaper, a new business had gone through the trouble of getting a vanity phone number (you know the type - 555-LEAK for a plumber, 555-BABY for a maternity store, etc.), and they even had the city officially change the name of the street where they're located to that of the business. And their website was www.theirbusinessname.com. But their email address? You guessed it. businessname@aol.com!

February 19, 2008

My typical Friday morning routine involves breakfast at a great little spot down the road. The kind of place that only serves breakfast and lunch, where the waitresses call you Hon and know your regular order by heart. I usually read the weekly newspaper while I eat, but the last time I went there was no weekly paper to be had. They hadn't published that week due to staff vacation. Okay, fair enough.

So I found myself reading the paper placemat. In addition to a few word games to occupy little ones the placemat features a border of advertisements for local businesses. Usually these ads are just reprints of business cards, and there's nothing wrong with that.

As I looked at the different ads I took note of how many businesses have websites and email addresses. No website? Okay, that's forgivable for some businesses. No email? Again, somewhat allowable, but it's becoming less excusable. Let your customer contact you in as many was as possible, and in the way they want. Most businesses wouldn't dream of placing an ad without their phone number in it.

What I found most confounding is the number of businesses who have a website with their own domain name, but their email uses a generic service provider. For example, a local pet groomer might display www.petgroomer.com in their ad, but their email address is jdoe@verizon.net. Or jdoe@aol.com. Or jdoe@hotmail.net. Some folks would use petgroomer@whatevertheirprovideris.com, and that's a little better.

My questions is: why not use jdoe@petgroomer.com? Or info@petgroomer.com? Or anything@petgroomer.com? I actually saw an ad for a local company that builds websites, and even they were using a generic email address! This tells me these businesses are either using the free webspace their internet provider includes or they didn't want to spend a few bucks to have somebody set up an email account using their own domain name. Either way it makes one question how serious these businesses are about making it easy for their customers to reach them.

February 18, 2008

Some of the fine folks at the National Association of College Stores recently had the opportunity to hear Doug speak at their Creating Xtreme Customer Experiences Workshop, and they've posted a few of his recently-published comments on their blog (with permission, of course) to share with their members who were not in attendance. This also serves as a reminder for those who were there and might have missed or forgotten something Doug said. Ultimately, though, their inclusion of these bits of wisdom reflects what the NACS wants their stores to strive for. Check out their blog and some of the other valuable insights they're sharing.

February 11, 2008

The Associated Press recently wrote about a multi-university study on how emotions affect the spending habits of consumers. The study essentially confirmed what many human behavior and retail experts had known for a long time: sad customers spend more.

Study participants who watched a sadness-inducing video clip offered to pay nearly four times as much money to buy a water bottle than a group that watched an emotionally neutral clip.

Most folks will agree that a bit of shopping can lift them out of the doldrums, but what this study illustrates is the commonly unknown impact of mood on spending. Interestingly enough, subjects in the study who were exposed to the sad video and offered to pay more for the water bottle were adamant that the video had no bearing on the price they were willing to pay.

“This is a phenomenon that occurs without awareness,” Jennifer Lerner, a Harvard professor who studies emotion and decision making, said in a phone interview. “This is really different from the idea of retail therapy, where people are feeling negative and want to cheer themselves up by shopping. People have no idea this is going on.”

This phenomenon can be looked at two ways. First, retailers can do what advertisers have been doing for years: take advantage of customers' low levels of contentment and appeal to their need to be happy. The other way is to understand how a customer is feeling when they buy, and work to make sure the sale is permanent. One major side effect of misery spending is the realization that purchases don't have a long-term curative effect. This often leads to buyer's remorse and returned products, and if you don't have an effective way to handle those returns, you'll soon find yourself feeling down. And you know what happens then.

February 01, 2008

My oldest son, overhearing some economists on the radio mention the word “recession”, asked me why they sounded so unhappy. I explained that for most people, a recession wasn’t a good thing, and nobody really liked going through it. Austin seemed perplexed by this, and asked “Why? Doesn’t everyone get to go outside and play?” That’s economics to a five-year-old: a recession is when everyone goes out to play, inflation is what happens to balloons, and a depression is what Dad experiences when he thinks about the previous two. Of course, when your primary source of income comes from birthday money and Tooth Fairy revenue, and your overhead consists of penny candy and Star Wars comic books, and the First Paternal Bank is ready to bail you out at a moment’s notice, it’s easy to be positive about the state of the economy.

Unfortunately most (I would dare say all) retailers are not five-year-olds, and there are real struggles to be faced and serious choices to be made over the next year. We can choose to smile bravely and ignore the words of the experts, or we can take cautious steps to secure our businesses and the welfare of our employees. I’m not saying we need to take drastic measures and prepare for the worst case scenario, but we shouldn’t ignore the fact that some customers either currently or eventually might have a hard time deciding to make a mortgage payment, fill their car with gas just to get to work, or pay a credit card bill. If retailers pretend there is no wolf at the customer’s door, they’ll soon find a whole pack waiting outside their own. It might seem clever to be optimistic and carry on business as usual, but most problems of this magnitude don’t go away by ignoring them.

The key to surviving this impact is to understand and accept two ideas: 1) this economic downturn will eventually turn around, and 2) the speed of that turnaround can be impacted by how businesses (especially retailers) react. Some major retailers have announced price drops to help stimulate business. Others are cutting overhead. Some independents are giving up altogether. And some are acting as if nothing is amiss and everything is bright and sunny. They’re the ones who think a recession means it’s time to go out and play.